I read a blog that BlackPos had evaded 40 commercial AV programs and as MSE isn't the best of AVs, I'd hazard a guess and say No, but you could contact MS and see if you can get a honest response from them.

So far not so good. I did a chat at that first address. I was #1 and it started right away. The guy was obviously reading from a script and trying his best to calm and reassure me - even though I was already calm and did not need reassurance. But all he could do was refer me to a different chat service. That one (http://answerdesk.microsoftstore.com) is so backlogged that I get bored and wander off before they answer my chat request. When I return I have to restart it. So far I haven't been able to talk to anyone who can answer such a simple question.

The first chat service allowed me to enter my question before initiating the chat. It also allowed me to email a transcript to myself. But it didn't email the original question. What the heck good is that?

The second chat service does not allow me to enter my question while I'm waiting. I was planning to just copy/paste my question from the first chat, but since it was not sent along with the transcript I will have to remember and recompose my question all over again.

I am still not convinced that it is possible to get help from Microsoft.

I'm not a home user. I have two Point of Sale cash register systems in my store and two backups. I don't want to end up like Target. They can lawyer up and they will survive it. I would not. I'd end up living under a bridge if that happened to me.

My store systems are all running MSE because I read in a Windows Secrets newsletter that it was a competent antivirus program. I am now researching to see whether it really is or if I should get a different one. In the past I have only ever used Norton Internet Security after an incident in 1999 (+/- a year) when McAfee destroyed my system worse than any virus at the time could possibly have done. I still run it on a few systems. Should I switch all of my MSE systems to Norton? Or is there something better I should consider - and is enough better than Norton to be worth the learning curve?

From what I read here I'd be more worried about the attack vector (in this case a compromised web server) than about detecting the malware. If you can prevent the attack vector they can't get the malware on your POS! HTH

I'm not a home user. I have two Point of Sale cash register systems in my store and two backups. I don't want to end up like Target. They can lawyer up and they will survive it. I would not. I'd end up living under a bridge if that happened to me.

My store systems are all running MSE because I read in a Windows Secrets newsletter that it was a competent antivirus program. I am now researching to see whether it really is or if I should get a different one. In the past I have only ever used Norton Internet Security after an incident in 1999 (+/- a year) when McAfee destroyed my system worse than any virus at the time could possibly have done. I still run it on a few systems. Should I switch all of my MSE systems to Norton? Or is there something better I should consider - and is enough better than Norton to be worth the learning curve?

Well, I don't really like MSE and comparatives never rank it very well. My personal preference lies with Emsisoft Antimalware and I would recommend BitDefender, as well. These are regularly top rated AVs. If you prefer Norton, it is still better than MSE.

You should know, however, that no single AV can catch everything, so a multilayered strategy works best.

I do use a multi-layered strategy. I use ZyXel business class firewall routers, software firewalls (Windows Firewall on the systems running MSE), and the virus/malware protection of MSE or NIS. I run a MalwareBytes scan once a week on each system. I scan both my office and store Internet connections monthly at the ShieldsUp website. And there are a couple of other scans that I run manually, though I can't remember what they are right off hand. My computer reminds me to do them. :-) I continually remind my employees to keep their browsing to business or weather related sites as much as possible. Their email clients are setup with aggressive spam filtering. I'm sure I've overlooked something.

But to make my network and computers completely secure would be to make them unusable. It seems like eventually there will be some combination of exploits/vulnerabilities which will allow something in. If a virus trashes a computer, or even all of them, that's not as bad as if it starts siphoning off my customer's credit/debit card info. If I'm not doing everything I reasonably can to protect against that, I will probably not survive the ensuing lawsuits. So I want to make sure that whatever AV/AM I am using, it keeps up with the latest POS exploits. And preferably keeps ahead of them.

BlackPOS is AV proof? That would be seriously bad news. But nothing is ever totally bulletproof and once known someone will figure out how to detect it. In fact I just heard on the radio yesterday that someone at Target is in trouble because there were "indications" of a problem but they were ignored. I'd sure like to know what those indications were so I could make sure I do not ignore them if they occur at our store.

I do use a multi-layered strategy. I use ZyXel business class firewall routers, software firewalls (Windows Firewall on the systems running MSE), and the virus/malware protection of MSE or NIS. I run a MalwareBytes scan once a week on each system. I scan both my office and store Internet connections monthly at the ShieldsUp website. And there are a couple of other scans that I run manually, though I can't remember what they are right off hand. My computer reminds me to do them. :-) I continually remind my employees to keep their browsing to business or weather related sites as much as possible. Their email clients are setup with aggressive spam filtering. I'm sure I've overlooked something.

But to make my network and computers completely secure would be to make them unusable. It seems like eventually there will be some combination of exploits/vulnerabilities which will allow something in. If a virus trashes a computer, or even all of them, that's not as bad as if it starts siphoning off my customer's credit/debit card info. If I'm not doing everything I reasonably can to protect against that, I will probably not survive the ensuing lawsuits. So I want to make sure that whatever AV/AM I am using, it keeps up with the latest POS exploits. And preferably keeps ahead of them.

From a malware point of view, the Windows Firewall is almost useless, although int your case it could help if it is configured to block any outgoing, non allowed program. Other than that, it provides basically no additional protection to the one provided by your hardware firewall. Running Malwarebytes on demand is good, but what really matters is detecting malware in real time. If you want to keep your setup I would add Malwarebytes in real time.

I believe in whitelisting apps. That's why I run a HIPS, which doesn't allow anything that hasn't been authorized, to run, be that a legitimate program or malware. So my setup relies on Online Armor + EAM. With OA whitelisting and EAM behavioral detection I feel I am reasonably protected even against unknown, zero day, threats.